Car-coupling.



No! 628,330. Patented luly 4. I899.

E. H. JANNEY. CAR COUPLING.

(Application filud In. 31, 1899.) (No Modem" m: NORRIS PEYERS co. PHOfO-LH'HO WASHINGTON a c To all whom it may concern.-

vof the United States, residing in the county tional and important functionsfirst, that of UNITED STATES PATENT-f O FIC ELI H. JANNEY, OF FAIRFAX COUNTY, VIRGINIA.

CAR-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 628,330,,dated July 4, 1899.

Application filed March 31, 1899.

Be it known that I, ELI H. JANNEY, a citizen of Fairfax and State of Virginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Oar-Couplings, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to car-couplings, and more particularly to that class known as the J anney type, special reference being had to that form of locking device shown in my Patent No. 254,093, dated February 21, 1882, where two incline planes or cams contact to raise the pin in automatic coupling.

The object of my present invention is to provide means for shifting these inclines or cams so as to make them perform two addiautomatically throwing open the hook when it is desired to effect a coupling, and, secondly, that of automatically holding the lock; ing-pin in an unlocked position when it is desired to uncouple two cars until said cars separate, when the locking-pin will return automatically to the position for coupling. These objects I accomplish in the manner and by the means hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a horizontal sectional view of my improved coupling, showing the same in its locked position. Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view, the coupling-hook and locking-pin being'shown in full lines. Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse sectional view taken through the tail of the coupling-hook and also showing the operating-lever in section, the device being shown locked. Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3, showing the locking-pin raised and in position to automatically throw open the coupling-hook. Fig.5 is a detail side elevation of the coupling-hook.

Similar numerals of reference denote corresponding parts in the several views.

In the drawings the numeral 1 denotes the draw-bar of the coupling carrying the drawhead 2 of the well-known J anney type, in which is pivoted, by means of pin 3, the usual coupling-hook 4.

Passing vertically through upper and lower apertures 5 and 6 in the draw-head 2 is the coupling-pin 7 ,the same being cut away on Serial No. 711,277. (No model.)

its front lower side and formed with an inclined or cam surface 8, as shown. The tail of the coupling-hook 4 is provided on its outer side with a similarly-inclined cam-surface 9, adapted to move in the path of the cam-surface 8, as shown.

On the under side of the draw-head 2 is pivoted at 10 an operating-lever 11, apertu red at 12 for the reception of the lower endof the coupling-pin 7,with which it is engaged, preferably, by means of a pin or roller 13, that moves in slots 14, formed in the sides of the level- 11, said slots being inclined downwardly from right to left for a purpose hereinafter to be described. A spring 15, passing across the upper side of lever 11, thence around its pivotal point 10, and at its free ends engaging against the under side of the draw-head 2, serves to exert a constant downward pressure on said lever.

I From .the above description the operation of my improved construction will be understood to be as follows: .When the parts are in their locked position, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, the tail of the coupling-hook 2 will engage against the front half of the couplingpin 6that is tosay, against that portion of said hook opposite to the cam-surface 8 thereofand said hook will be firmly retained in its locked position. Now when it is desired to release said hook the free end of lever 11 is raised until the lower edge of cam-surface 8 on pin 7 passes the upper edge of the tail of the locking-hook 2, when the latter will be free to move to its open position. v It will be observed, however, that said couplingpin is moved vertically by itscontact with the right sides of slots 5 and '6 and with the tail of the coupling-hook in this movement to the releasing position, the result being that as lever 11 necessarily moves in the arc of a circle struck from-its pivot-point 10 the pin or roller 13,connecting said couplingpin and lever,will necessarily move toward the upper end of inclined slots 14 in said lever, and while the incline of said slots will be lessened somewhat as lever 11 approaches a horizontal position they will still remain somewhat inclinedvdownwardly from right to left when the couplingpin reaches the releasing position, as shown in Fig. 4. It will also be observed by referring to Figs. 3 and 4 that the left sides of slots 5 and 6 diverge downwardly from a vertical line, leaving a small free space at the lower end of slot 5 and a much wider space in slot 6. Now as the lower edge of cam-surface 8 passes the tail of the coupling-hook 2 in the act of unlocking said coupling-hook the contact between the two ceases and said coupling-pin is free to move at its lower end to the left into the space formed by the diverging sides of slots 5 and 6, above described, the re sult being that the dead-weight of said coupling-pin will cause pin or roller 13 to slide down the lower inclined sides of slots 14 in the lever 11, thus inclining said coupling-pin somewhat to the left from top to bottom and causing the lower ed go of cam-surface 8 thereon to engage with cam-surface 9, formed on the tail of the coupling-hook 2, as clearly shown in Fig. 4, the parts remaining in this position until the cars are drawn apart, at which time the opening of the coupling-hook 2 will permit cam-surface 8 to slide down camsnrface 9 and permit the operating-lever and coupling-pin to resume their normal positions. The device is now ready for automatic coupling, as the return of the tail of coupling-.

hook 2 to its locked position will cause the cam-surfaces 8 and 9 to again contact, thus lifting coupling-pin 7 and permitting the tail of the coupling-hook 2 to pass beneath camsurface 8, it being observed that as the lifting strain is from coupling-pin 7 to lever 11 instead of vice versa, as hereinbefore described, the upper surfaces of inclined slots 14 will bear against pin or roller 13, and thus force coupling-pin 7 automatically to the right until it contacts with the walls of slots 5 and 6 on that 1 side, thereby permitting the tail of the coupling-hook 2 to pass from beneath cam-surface 8 and permitting the coupling-pin to drop to its normal locked position. (Shown in Fig. 3.)

A very important feature of the invention resides in the operation of cam-surfaces 8 and 9 when the car is not coupled to another and the coupling-hook is locked, which is that when it is desired to prepare the device for coupling it is only necessary to raise the coupling-pin 7 to the unlocking position, hereinbefore described, whereupon the combined dead-weight of said lever and coupling-pin, together with the downward tension exerted thereon by spring 15, will through the contact of cam-surfaces 8 and 9 cause the coupling-hook 2 to be automatically opened ready for coupling, thus obviating the necessity for manually opening the coupling-hook.

I have illustrated in Fig. 6 a slightly-modified construction wherein the operating-lever 11 is located on top of the draw-head l and which dispenses with the necessity for the pin or roller 13, the inclined upper side of aperture 12 operating to tilt the lower end of coupling-pin 7 to the left when cam-surface 8 passes the tail of coupling-hook 2, as will be readily understood. The inclined lower side of aperture 12 will also have the same effect in returning the coupling-pin to its vertical position during automatic coupling as do the lower sides of slots 14, due to the dead-weight of the operating-lever 11 and the downward tension of spring 15.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a car-coupling, the combination with the draw-head, and coupling-hook pivoted therein, of a vertically-movable coupling-pin adapted to engage against the tail of the coupling-hook when the latter is in its closed position, and means carried by said couplingpin for automatically forcing said couplinghook to its open position when said pin is raised to the releasing position.

2. In a car-coupling, the combination with the draw-head, and coupling-hook pivoted therein, of a vertically-movable coupling-pin adapted to engage against the tail of the coupling-hook when the latter is in its closed po sition, and means carried by said couplingpin and operating by the downward movement thereof for automatically forcing said coupling-hook to its open position when said pin is raised to the releasing position.

3. In a car-coupling, the combination with the draw-head, and coupling-hook pivoted therein, of a vertically-movable coupling-pin adapted to engage against the tail of the coupling-hook when the latter is in its closed position and provided with a cam-surface adapted to engage a similar surface on the coupling-hook tail when said pin is raised to the unlocking position, whereby said couplinghook will be automatically forced to its open position.

4. In acar-coupling, the combination with the draw-head, and coupling-hook pivoted therein, of avertically-movable coupling-pin adapted to engage against the tail of the coupling-hook when the latter is in its closed position and provided withacam-surface adapted to engage a similar surface on the coupling-hook tail when said pin is raised to the unlocking position, whereby said couplinghook will be automatically forced to its open position an operating-lever for said couplinghook, and a spring for exerting a constant downward tension on said coupling-pin.

5. In a car-coupling, the combination with the draw-head, and coupling-hook pivoted therein and provided with a cam-surface on the outer side of the tail thereof, of a vertical ly-movable couplingpin,a portion of which lies in the path of movement of said couplinghook tail and having a cam-surface on the under side of said portion, and a lever for raising said pin, said pin and lever having an inclined slot connection, whereby the lower end of said pin in its upward movement will have a pressure exerted thereon in a direction toward said coupling-hook tail, and in its downward movement a pressure away from said coupling-hook tail.

6. In a car-coupling, the combination with the draw-head, and coupling-hook pivoted therein and provided with a cam-surface on the outer side of the'tail thereof, of a coupling-pin vertically movable in an aperture in the draw-head that is enlarged toward its lower end to permit a sidewise movement to the lower end of said pin, said pin having a portion thereof lying in the path of movement of said coupling-hook tail and having a camsurface on the under side of said portion, and a lever for raising said pin, said pin and lever having an inclined slot connection, whereby the lower end of said pin in its upward movement will have a pressure exerted thereon in a direction toward said coupling-hook tail, and in its downward movement a pressure away from said coupling-hook tail.

7. In a car-coupling, the combination with the draw-head, and coupling-hook pivoted therein and provided with a cam-surface on the outer side of the tail thereof, of a vertically-movable coupling-pin having a portion thereof lying in the path of movement of saidcoupling-hook tail and having acam-surface on the under side of said portion, a pivoted lever for raising said pin, said pin and lever having an inclined slot connection, and a spring exerting a downward tension on said lever and having its free ends contacting with the draw-head, passing thence around the lever-pivot, and at its middle bearing against said lever.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ELI H. JANNEY. Witnesses:

A. B. J ANNEY, (J. H. JANNEY. 

